The flow of liquids, gases, and/or fluids through pipes is widespread in a variety of industries and industrial applications including, but not limited to, heavy and light chemicals, steel, paper, nuclear, petrochemicals, turbomachinery, and various pipeline systems. In certain circumstances, flow through a pipe can be subject to a variety of flow disturbances, such as swirl. Swirl may have a tendency to propagate for significant distances downstream and therefore may necessitate the use of exceedingly long pipe lengths to control and/or mitigate the effects of swirl. However, in some instances it may be desirable to deliberately cause or generate swirl and/or flow disturbances in various fluid dynamics settings.
More specifically, it can be beneficial to intentionally generate swirl in a controlled environment in order to investigate, inter alia, the performance of flow meters and/or flow conditioners in an effort to improve their overall performance. By generating swirl in a controlled environment, the response of flow meters and/or flow conditioners to swirl can be tested, examined, and potentially modified. In addition, flow material behavior and response under various flow conditions can also be studied by intentionally generating swirl.
Although various methods for generating swirl exist, these methods are hindered by limitations in that they: (1) are limited to generating only certain degrees of swirl; (2) are limited by a fixed geometry and therefore locked into a specific swirl angle; and/or (3) are limited by being velocity sensitive. For example, sets of turbine blades and/or guide vanes can be used to generate swirl. However, this approach to swirl generation requires a fixed geometry and is further restricted by being velocity sensitive (e.g., vortex shedding and stalling at certain velocities tend to occur).
Accordingly, there exists a need for systems and methods for generating swirl that are capable of adjusting the degree and amount of swirl generated in controlled circumstances, and which do not contain the above-described limitations. Moreover, it would advantageous for systems and methods to be reliable, repeatable, applicable for a variety of flow conditions, fluid-dynamically verifiable, easily changeable to provide for different levels or degrees of swirl, and cost effective.